You could say that the Chinese Communist Party is the Harry Houdini of Marxist-Leninist regimes,

the David Copperfield of communism, the Chris Angel of autocracy. But the magic is fading.

The former deputy national security advisor to President Trump with quite the opening statement

on the Chinese Communist Party and President

Xi Jinping. We have a lot to unpack from last night's hearing held by the new House

Select Committee on China. Plus, a new nonpartisan report is detailing more of the failures that

led to the January 6th Capitol attack.

And also ahead, we'll break down what happened at the Supreme Court as justices heard

arguments on President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.

Good morning and welcome to way too early on this Wednesday, March 1st, March already.

I'm John Flemere. Thanks for starting your day with us.

Amid rising tensions between the two countries, the New House Select Committee on the strategic competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party held its first hearing last

night. In prime time, a bipartisan group of lawmakers set the stage for what Republican

Chairman Mike Gallagher called an existential struggle over the future of America.

We may call this a strategic competition, but it's not a polite tennis match.

This is an existential struggle over what life will look like in the 21st century.

And the most fundamental freedoms are at stake.

To kick things off, the panel played this video detailing the numerous human rights abuses carried out by the Chinese government, from the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 to the alleged rape and torture of Uyghurs in

present-day China. The committee also brought in four witnesses to answer questions about a

wide-ranging number of topics, including Taiwan's independence from China, China's purchasing

of farmland in the U.S., and security concerns surrounding

Americans' use of the Chinese-owned social media app, TikTok.

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